Former Executive Yuan -secretary-general Chen Chin-jun (陳景峻) and former Veterans Affairs Commission minister Hu Chen-pu (胡鎮埔) were found guilty of corruption by the Taipei District Court yesterday.
Chen was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in prison for allegedly instructing commission officials to raise funds illegally in 2007 and then giving the money to four legislative candidates from various political parties.
In its ruling, the court also deprived Chen of his civil rights for three years.
Hu was sentenced to 10 years in prison for corruption and also deprived of his civil rights for three years.
The ruling also sentenced former commission secretary--general Cha Tai-chen (查台傳) to seven years and six months in prison and suspended his civil rights for three years, while another former commission official and three former officials of the commission-owned RPTL International received sentences in the case.
All defendants are able to appeal the ruling with the Taiwan High Court, the ruling added.
The ruling said in 2007 Chen asked Hu to solicit funding from RPTL International and other companies in which the commission had invested.
Hu secured a total of NT$1.4 million (US$44,000) from the companies and donated the money to four candidates in that year’s legislative elections.
The ruling said then--candidate Yu Tian (余天) of the Democratic Progressive Party received NT$1 million, while then-Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) candidate Lin Yu-fang (林郁方) received NT$200,000, and that Non-Partisan Solidarity Union candidate May Chin (高金素梅) and Taiwan Solidarity Union candidate Huang Chung-yung (黃宗源) each received NT$100,000.
Prosecutors added that Yu, Lin, Chin and Huang confirmed they had received the donations, but were unaware of the source.
The four did not break the law by accepting the donations and were therefore not indicted, the -prosecutors added.
Hu, who on Sept. 3 announced he would run in January’s legislative elections in Bade (八德), Taoyuan County, as an independent candidate, said the ruling was political persecution.
“It is obviously meant to try to stop me from running in the [legislative] election,” he said, vowing to continue his election campaign and appeal the case.
He said he was not the person who actually raised the funds, nor did he give instructions to do so.
Chen also called the ruling politically motivated and said he would file an appeal.
Additional reporting by CNA
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